T20 betting: bookie Paresh Bhatia remanded in police custody

Alleged bookie Paresh Bhatia has been arrested by Mumbai police in connection with the T20 betting scandal after being released on bail in Goa, and remanded in police custody till June 6 by a local court.

Alleged bookie Paresh Bhatia has been arrested by Mumbai police in connection with the T20 betting scandal after being released on bail in Goa, and remanded in police custody till June 6 by a local court.

Bhatia was arrested on Saturday night by the city police's crime branch soon after he was released on bail by the Goa police, which had arrested him last week for betting.

CSK owner Gurunath Meiyappan and actor Vindoo Dara Singh are among those arrested in the bettibg scandal.

Seeking Bhatia's custody, the crime branch said it wants to question him, Vindoo and Meiyappan together to ascertain further links.

According to the crime branch, Bhatia was the link between Vindoo and arrested bookie Ramesh Vyas. Bhatia was the one responsible for collecting deposited money from a particular bank account and distributing it among bookies and punters.

In its remand application submitted on Sunday before a metropolitan magistrate, the crime branch said Bhatia was in constant touch with Vindoo during the recently held T20 matches.

According to the crime branch, there are telephonic conversations recorded between Vindoo and Bhatia exchanging information about players and teams.

Advocate Rajesh Srivastav, appearing for Bhatia, opposed the remand plea and said the accused was arrested last week by Goa police in a betting case.

"46 mobile phones were recovered by the Goa police. Investigation is already done by them after which Bhatia was granted bail. He (Bhatia) has been falsely implicated in the Mumbai case and has no connection with Vindoo and Meiyappan," the lawyer said.

The metropolitan magistrate, however, accepted the crime branch plea and remanded Bhatia in police custody.